Virginia Tech and Cal are both walking into Saturday’s ACC meeting in Berkeley with the same objective: shake off the sting of last week and get moving again.
For Virginia Tech, the pain came in a Friday night home loss that turned on one kick. John Love missed a 36-yard field goal on the final play, and Pitt slipped away with a 35-33 win. The Hokies finished 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the ACC after watching a game they had a real chance to close out get away from them.
Cal’s frustration was different, but just as sharp. The Golden Bears built a fourth-quarter lead against UNLV, then gave up 15 points over the final 10 minutes and fell 39-31. They’re 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
“Obviously, there's a fine line between winning and losing in college football and we felt that on Friday night,” James Franklin said after his first loss as the coach at Virginia Tech.
The numbers from Virginia Tech’s loss tell a strange story. The Hokies rolled up 499 yards of offense to Pitt’s 295, but four turnovers wiped out the edge and left them empty at the finish. Pitt didn’t turn it over at all.
Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer was at the center of it all. After opening the season without an interception in his first four games, he threw two picks against Pitt, lost a fumble on a strip-sack and also botched a handoff. Even with those mistakes, he still threw for 434 yards and produced four total touchdowns through the air and on the ground, helping Virginia Tech get close to a comeback.
“We spend a lot of time talking about our 1-0 mentality,” Franklin said. “It's critical that we lean into that and get back to work against a talented Cal football team.”
Cal’s loss came with its own pile of issues. The Golden Bears were flagged 16 times for 147 yards, a costly burden in a game that was already slipping away late.
They were also dealing with injuries in major spots. Quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele left in the final minute of the first half with a concussion, and first-year coach Tosh Lupoi said Tuesday that he is also in concussion protocol.
Top running back Adam Mohammed, who has 504 yards rushing and receiving, was out with a left knee injury. Safety Kingston Lopa, who leads the Football Bowl Subdivision with five interceptions, was hurt on the opening defensive snap with an upper-body injury/concussion protocol and never returned.
In relief against UNLV, Jackson Brousseau completed 19 of 32 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Lupoi also said he changed his offensive play caller at halftime, moving pass game coordinator Pat McCann into that role in place of offensive coordinator Jordan Somerville.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Could Catch Cal At A Very Strange Time
Virginia Tech is trying to steady itself after the loss to Pitt, and the timing of the next matchup could hardly be more unusual. California arrives with questions hanging over the most important spot on the field, as starting quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is in concussion protocol and may not be available when the teams meet.
Pat McCann has also stepped in as Californias offensive playcaller, replacing Jordan Somerville, which adds another layer of uncertainty to an offense already dealing with a major personnel question. For the Hokies, it creates a chance to see a Cal attack that could look different in both structure and personnel, even before the first snap. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Young Faces Virginia Tech Questions That Will Define This Season
Mike Young and a trio of Virginia Tech players will take the stage at ACC Tipoff with the Hokies carrying a roster that looks far different from the one that finished last season. Only five players are back, which puts an immediate spotlight on the newcomers and the holdovers who will have to help stitch the group together quickly once the games start counting.
Ben Hammond and Amani Hansberry are among the names expected to matter most, and Tyler Johnsons presence only underscores how many pieces still have to settle into place. The biggest questions are familiar ones for a team with this much turnover: how much frontcourt depth is really there, and who steps forward as the go-to scorer after Neoklis Avdalas is gone. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Heads To Cal With Two Huge Questions Looming
Virginia Techs trip to Berkeley arrives at an important moment for a program still sorting through what it is after a rough stretch of results. The Hokies are heading into their second meeting with Cal this season, and the backdrop matters as much as the matchup itself, with the Bears back home for their homecoming and both teams carrying plenty of recent film to study. Player conditions and recent performances have shaped the conversation all week, and Virginia Techs staff has had to weigh those concerns alongside the tactical tweaks needed to keep pace.
James Franklin has already felt the sting of the recent losses, and this game offers another chance to show whether the Hokies can steady themselves against a familiar opponent. Cal has its own key players and strategic changes to lean on, which makes the rematch feel less like a reset and more like a test of adjustments on both sidelines. For Virginia Tech, the questions are not just about execution in one game, but about whether the team can finally turn a difficult run into something more sustainable. [Read more 🡒]